Heritable and climatic sources of variation in juvenile tree growth in an Austrian common garden experiment of Central European Norway spruce populations

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.1101/2022.01.10.475611 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Morales ◽

Kelly Swarts

Keyword(s):

Norway Spruce ◽

Principal Component ◽

Tree Height ◽

Common Garden ◽

Weather Data ◽

Climatic Data ◽

Common Garden Experiment ◽

Weather Variables ◽

Central European ◽

Sources Of Variation

We leveraged publicly available data on juvenile tree height of 299 Central European Norway spruce populations grown in a common garden experiment across 24 diverse trial locations in Austria and weather data from the trial locations and population provenances to parse the heritable and climatic components of tree height variation. Principal component analysis of geospatial and weather variables demonstrated high interannual variation among trial environments, largely driven by differences in precipitation, and separation of population provenances based on altitude, temperature, and snowfall. Tree height was highly heritable and genetic variation for tree height was strongly associated with climatic relationships among population provenances. Modeling the covariance between populations and trial environments based on climatic data increased the heritable signal for tree height.

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Multivariate variation within and between open-pollinated families of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b87-221 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 65 (8) ◽

pp. 1614-1621 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R. K. Scagel ◽

Y. A. El-Kassaby ◽

J. Maze

Keyword(s):

Pseudotsuga Menziesii ◽

Common Garden ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Common Garden Experiment ◽

Single Population ◽

Causal Factors ◽

Historical Factors ◽

Sources Of Variation ◽

Family Variable ◽

Family Variation

The morphological variation of seedlings from a single population of Pseudotsuga menziesii was examined and related to their maternal parentage (41 families) and speed of germination (selection) during the course of a common garden experiment. The largest source of variation among seedlings was attributed to within-family variation. Furthermore, within-family variable intercorrelations differed from family to family, suggesting that intrinsic causal factors are important to the generation and organization of variation. Pooled within-family variation was explored and shown to be related to the between-family variation. These results suggest that developmental and historical factors cannot be ignored in the interpretation and exploitation of sources of variation. Such considerations identify limitations to Neo-Darwinian explanations and suggest reappraisal of progeny trials with respect to these issues. The results also pose limitations to our interpretations of genetic similarity on the basis of multivariate morphological data.

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Exploring phenotypic floral integration in Iris pumila L.: A common-garden experiment

Archives of Biological Sciences ◽

10.2298/abs1302781t ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 781-793 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Branka Tucic ◽

Ana Vuleta ◽

Sanja Manitasevic-Jovanovic

Keyword(s):

Principal Component ◽

Common Garden ◽

Phenotypic Selection ◽

Factor Loading ◽

Floral Organ ◽

Dry Mass ◽

Common Garden Experiment ◽

Correlation Pattern ◽

Perianth Tube ◽

Iris Pumila

The angiosperm flower is a complex integrated phenotype, but within this structure there are partly independent units or modules. The interconnections among floral organ traits are hypothesized to be mostly generated by pollinatormediated selection. In this study, we explore whether floral dry mass per area (DMA) in an insect-pollinated herb, Iris pumila, exhibits a modular correlation pattern as has been reported for some size-related traits. We found that the overall pattern of floral organ integration with regard to DMA was uneven in the offspring of Iris pumila derived from a sunexposed and a shaded natural population. Since principal component analysis (PCA) showed that most of the eigenvalue variance was explained by the first two principal components (PCs), these PCs were considered as two floral modules. The greatest factor loadings on the first PC axis was that of the perianth and style arm DMA (PSDMA) and perianth tube DMA (PTDMA),while on the second PC axis, the greatest factor loading was that of stamen DMA (STDMA). The results indicate that the function of the first module would be to attract a pollinating vector, while the second one would reflect male functions. Selection analyses revealed that the targets of phenotypic selection were both intra-floral integration and individual floral traits. Both PSDMA and PC1DMA were under strong linear selection, while PTDMA experienced direct stabilization selection. The level of integration in floral organ DMA expressed in the term of relative eigenvalue variance appeared to be rather low, as was documented for other angiosperm taxa.

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Allometry and Post-Drought Growth Resilience of Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur L.) Varieties

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12070930 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 930

Author(s):

Saša Kostić ◽

Saša Orlović ◽

Velisav Karaklić ◽

Lazar Kesić ◽

Martina Zorić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quercus Robur ◽

Tree Height ◽

Common Garden ◽

Drought Event ◽

Pedunculate Oak ◽

Common Garden Experiment ◽

Growth Phases ◽

Recovery Potential ◽

Crown Width ◽

Tree Phenology

This paper presents an analysis of the radial growth, tree dimensions, and allometry of three phenological pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.; QURO) varieties (early (E-QURO), typical (T-QURO), and late (L-QURO)), from a common garden experiment. We focused on the resistance and resilience of each variety to drought events, which occurred in 2012 and 2017, as well as their recovery potential during juvenile and mature growth phases, with the goal of clarifying how QURO drought sensitivity is influenced by tree phenology and growth stage. Our results indicate that E-QURO is more drought resistant, while T-QURO and L-QURO exhibit greater recovery potential after a drought event. Hence, typical and late QURO varieties are better prepared to withstand climate change. We also noted differences in the physical dimensions and the allometry of the studied QURO varieties. On average, 21-year-old QURO specimens from the analyzed stand are 9.35 m tall, have a crown width (CW) of 8.05 m, and a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 23.71 cm. Although T-QURO varieties had the greatest DBH and CW, they were shorter than E- and L-QURO, which are similar in height. T-QURO is also shorter relative to DBH, while L-QURO has a wider crown relative to tree height (TH). Intra-variety variations are higher than variations among half-sib (open-pollinated) families of each variety. Moreover, the adopted regression model provided a better fit to the CW/DBH ratio than to TH/DBH and CW/TH.

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SILICA BODIES IN CONIFER FOLIAGE: RESULTS OF A COMMON-GARDEN EXPERIMENT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HISTORY OF THE TERRESTRIAL SILICA CYCLE

10.1130/abs/2017am-304822 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan P. Wilson ◽

◽

Nicholas M. Munves

Keyword(s):

Common Garden ◽

Common Garden Experiment ◽

History Of ◽

Silica Cycle

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Sex ratio and life history traits at reaching sexual maturity in the dioecious shrub Fuchsia parviflora: field and common garden experiments

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467421000043 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Jessica S. Ambriz ◽

Clementina González ◽

Eduardo Cuevas

Keyword(s):

Natural Population ◽

Sexual Maturity ◽

Sex Ratios ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Common Garden ◽

Common Garden Experiment ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Reproductive Biomass ◽

Common Garden Experiments ◽

Growth And Reproduction

Abstract Fuchsia parviflora is a dioecious shrub that depends on biotic pollination for reproduction. Previous studies suggest that the male plants produce more flowers, and male-biased sex ratios have been found in some natural populations. To assess whether the biased sex ratios found between genders in natural populations are present at the point at which plants reach sexual maturity, and to identify possible trade-offs between growth and reproduction, we performed a common garden experiment. Finally, to complement the information of the common garden experiment, we estimated the reproductive biomass allocation between genders in one natural population. Sex ratios at reaching sexual maturity in F. parviflora did not differ from 0.5, except in one population, which was the smallest seedling population. We found no differences between genders in terms of the probability of germination or flowering. When flowering began, female plants were taller than males and the tallest plants of both genders required more time to reach sexual maturity. Males produced significantly more flowers than females, and the number of flowers increased with plant height in both genders. Finally, in the natural population studied, the investment in reproductive biomass was seven-fold greater in female plants than in male plants. Our results showed no evidence of possible trade-offs between growth and reproduction. Despite the fact that female plants invest more in reproductive biomass, they were taller than the males after flowering, possibly at the expense of herbivory defence.

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Evaluation of NASA POWER Reanalysis Products to Estimate Daily Weather Variables in a Hot Summer Mediterranean Climate

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11061207 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1207

Author(s):

Gonçalo C. Rodrigues ◽

Ricardo P. Braga

Keyword(s):

Wind Speed ◽

Bias Correction ◽

Goodness Of Fit ◽

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Weather Data ◽

Coefficient Of Determination ◽

Mean Bias Error ◽

Bias Error ◽

Weather Variables ◽

Weather Stations

This study aims to evaluate NASA POWER reanalysis products for daily surface maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures, solar radiation (Rs), relative humidity (RH) and wind speed (Ws) when compared with observed data from 14 distributed weather stations across Alentejo Region, Southern Portugal, with a hot summer Mediterranean climate. Results showed that there is good agreement between NASA POWER reanalysis and observed data for all parameters, except for wind speed, with coefficient of determination (R2) higher than 0.82, with normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) varying, from 8 to 20%, and a normalized mean bias error (NMBE) ranging from –9 to 26%, for those variables. Based on these results, and in order to improve the accuracy of the NASA POWER dataset, two bias corrections were performed to all weather variables: one for the Alentejo Region as a whole; another, for each location individually. Results improved significantly, especially when a local bias correction is performed, with Tmax and Tmin presenting an improvement of the mean NRMSE of 6.6 °C (from 8.0 °C) and 16.1 °C (from 20.5 °C), respectively, while a mean NMBE decreased from 10.65 to 0.2%. Rs results also show a very high goodness of fit with a mean NRMSE of 11.2% and mean NMBE equal to 0.1%. Additionally, bias corrected RH data performed acceptably with an NRMSE lower than 12.1% and an NMBE below 2.1%. However, even when a bias correction is performed, Ws lacks the performance showed by the remaining weather variables, with an NRMSE never lower than 19.6%. Results show that NASA POWER can be useful for the generation of weather data sets where ground weather stations data is of missing or unavailable.

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Predicting emergency department visits in a large teaching hospital

International Journal of Emergency Medicine ◽

10.1186/s12245-021-00357-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nathan Singh Erkamp ◽

Dirk Hendrikus van Dalen ◽

Esther de Vries

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Teaching Hospital ◽

Time Trend ◽

Prediction Models ◽

Emergency Department Visits ◽

Weather Data ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Weather Variables ◽

Ed Visits

Abstract Background Emergency department (ED) visits show a high volatility over time. Therefore, EDs are likely to be crowded at peak-volume moments. ED crowding is a widely reported problem with negative consequences for patients as well as staff. Previous studies on the predictive value of weather variables on ED visits show conflicting results. Also, no such studies were performed in the Netherlands. Therefore, we evaluated prediction models for the number of ED visits in our large the Netherlands teaching hospital based on calendar and weather variables as potential predictors. Methods Data on all ED visits from June 2016 until December 31, 2019, were extracted. The 2016–2018 data were used as training set, the 2019 data as test set. Weather data were extracted from three publicly available datasets from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Weather observations in proximity of the hospital were used to predict the weather in the hospital’s catchment area by applying the inverse distance weighting interpolation method. The predictability of daily ED visits was examined by creating linear prediction models using stepwise selection; the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was used as measurement of fit. Results The number of daily ED visits shows a positive time trend and a large impact of calendar events (higher on Mondays and Fridays, lower on Saturdays and Sundays, higher at special times such as carnival, lower in holidays falling on Monday through Saturday, and summer vacation). The weather itself was a better predictor than weather volatility, but only showed a small effect; the calendar-only prediction model had very similar coefficients to the calendar+weather model for the days of the week, time trend, and special time periods (both MAPE’s were 8.7%). Conclusions Because of this similar performance, and the inaccuracy caused by weather forecasts, we decided the calendar-only model would be most useful in our hospital; it can probably be transferred for use in EDs of the same size and in a similar region. However, the variability in ED visits is considerable. Therefore, one should always anticipate potential unforeseen spikes and dips in ED visits that are not shown by the model.

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